Young people with special needs be on their own at holiday camp

They get to play games, sports and more without their parents and caregivers around

- Judith Tan

For the first time, 19-year-olds Sri Ramachandran Vijayan, Ethan Justin Yeong and Yap Xiao Zhen got to be on their own at a holiday camp.

Mr Ramachandran, who is deaf, and Mr Yeong and Miss Yap, both intellectually disabled, were among more than 20 young people with special needs at a three-day camp at Kampung Siglap Lifeskills Training and Retreat Centre from May 31 to June 2.

This is the first holiday camp these disabled young people were attending without their parents and caregivers.

Called Camp Extraordinary (Camp X), the event has created a fun, safe and inclusive environment to provide opportunities for young people with disabilities to discover their identity and build up life skills, independence, selfworth and self-confidence.

The campers are either physically, sensory, and intellectually disabled or on the autism spectrum.

The camp offered a variety of programmes catered to the diverse needs of the campers and encouraged them to foster strong friendships.

These included icebreaker games, a trip to Madame Tussauds Singapore in Sentosa and boccia, a target ball sport developed for people with cerebral palsy.

Each disabled camper was assigned a befriender with whom they could interact, share and exchange ideas and experiences throughout the three days.